‘Drawing in space’ is a familiar term used to describe abstract sculpture, but it turns literal in Wang Xieda’s new bronze sculpture at James Cohan Gallery, which brings Chinese calligraphy into three-dimensions. (In Chelsea through Feb 9th).
On the subject of ceramics (see yesterday’s post about Takuro Kuwata), Matthias Merkel Hess takes an amusing position on aesthetics vs use value in contemporary ceramics with these beautiful gas cans. (At Louis B. James, Lower East Side through Feb 22nd. )
Though Takuro Kuwata’s first US solo exhibition is titled ‘Flavor of Nature,’ the vivid reds, blues, golds and metallic glazes of his ceramics come across as anything but natural. This ‘stone explosion’ vessel was made by adding stones to his clay mix, which surface when fired. (At Salon 94 Bowery, Lower East Side, through Feb 25).
British conceptual artist Lucy Skaer once left a diamond and a scorpion together on an Amsterdam street. ‘Us to Them V,’ a photo of Skaer comparing natural materials to French Post-Impressionist Eduoard Vuillard’s 1895 painting ‘Album’ in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, isn’t quite so dangerous. But it does make a strange juxtaposition that interrupts usual ways of thinking of 19th century art. (At Simone Subal Gallery the group show ‘It’s Over There,’ Lower East Side through Feb 10th).
Ishmael Randall Weeks’ mountain range – suspended in the middle of Eleven Rivington’s Chrystie Street space – is composed of carved texts about revolution in Latin America, turning writing about imagined utopias into a depiction of a real place. (On the Lower East Side through Feb 10th).